Cheddar Plunkett happy as Laois dig in

Allianz Hurling League Division 1B play-off - Laois 0-23 Westmeath 0-16: For 35 minutes, this midland derby was a finely-balanced contest, with plenty of scoring at either end and little or nothing between the sides.

Westmeath led by 0-12 to 0-11 at the interval, with half their tally coming from the stick of Niall O’Brien, and it would have been a brave pundit who would have called it at that point.

The narrative changed from then on however, succinctly summarised by Westmeath manager Michael Ryan.